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The footage captures the moment when Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, dressed in a white t-shirt and clutching his phone, staggered out of the burning debris of the Air India plane. (Screengrabs)
A chilling new video has emerged from the site of the devastating Air India Flight AI-171 crash, showing Vishwas Kumar Ramesh — the sole survivor of the tragedy — walking away from the smouldering wreckage with smoke billowing behind him. The footage, now widely circulated online, captures the surreal moment when Ramesh, dressed in a white t-shirt and clutching his phone, staggered out of the burning debris as stunned locals rushed to help him.
The incident has ignited public emotion and disbelief over how Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national of Indian origin, managed to escape a crash that killed all 241 others on board — including crew members and passengers from multiple nationalities.
A chilling new video has emerged from the site of the devastating #AirIndia Flight AI-171 crash, showing Vishwash Kumar Ramesh — the sole survivor of the tragedy — walking away from the smouldering wreckage with smoke billowing behind him. The footage, now widely circulated… pic.twitter.com/n5gyEJsG9Y
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) June 16, 2025
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had just taken off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12 en route to London when it lost altitude abruptly and crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel, erupting into flames within seconds.
“When I opened my eyes after the crash, for a few moments, I thought I would die too,” Ramesh told Doordarshan from his hospital bed at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. “I don’t know how I came out of it alive…I thought I was going to die. But I opened my eyes, saw I was alive, unbuckled my seat belt, and just crawled out.”
Ramesh was seated on 11A, next to an emergency exit. He said that the aircraft door had blown open on impact, offering him a narrow passage through the smoke and rubble. “I was close to the ground floor. There was space, and I crawled out from there. The building wall was on the other side…I don’t think anyone else could have escaped from there,” he recounted.
The crash, he said, took place barely a minute after takeoff. “Suddenly, it felt like the plane got stuck. Green and white lights flashed. The pilot seemed to try to lift it again, but the aircraft went full speed into the building.”
The scale of devastation was such that a massive fireball shot into the sky, visible from several kilometres away. Rescue operations were launched immediately, but there were no other survivors.
Ramesh, though stable, remains under medical observation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the site and Ramesh at the hospital the day after the crash.
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Air India confirmed that the ill-fated flight carried 242 people, including 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese citizens, and one Canadian. Among the Indian passengers was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. All 12 crew members, including both pilots, perished in the crash.
Dozens also died on the ground taking the death count over 270. Air India will provide Rs 1 crore for all victims.
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